Day: February 6, 2018

Common Communications for Visiting Vehicle (C2V2) R2 Upgrade: Due to issues experienced yesterday while loading the C2V2 R2 upgrade, ground controllers were unable to complete the first day of R2 load operations. The attempt to load the software today was again unsuccessful. It was determined that a file mismatch was causing errors in the software load. In order to correct this, a new general configuration file will need to be re-delivered. The C2V2 system is used to communicate with and control vehicles as they arrive and depart from the ISS. This upgrade package is needed to interface with upcoming missions.

Rodent Research 6 (RR-6): Today the crew performed the first of four consecutive days of RR-6 operations by setting up the refrigerated centrifuge and processing a series of blood samples from the rodents. The samples were placed in the Minus Eighty Degree Celsius Laboratory Freezer for ISS (MELFI) for frozen storage until they can be returned to the ground for testing. The Rodent Research-6 (RR-6) mission uses mice flown aboard the International Space Station (ISS) and maintained on Earth to test drug delivery systems for combatting muscular breakdown in space or during disuse conditions. RR-6 includes several groups of mice selectively treated with a placebo or implanted with a nanochannel drug delivery chip that administers compounds meant to maintain muscle in low gravity/disuse conditions.

Veg-03 Initiation: The crew installed the root mat and plant pillows into the Veggie facility to initiate the fifthVeg-03 experiment run. Veg-03 contains a total of six experiment runs with the fourth, 5th, and 6th sessions being the first of their kind because they contain a mixed harvest of cabbage, lettuce, and mizuna, which are harvested on-orbit with samples returned to Earth for testing. The overall goal of Veg-03 is to further demonstrate proof-of concept for the Veggie plant growth chamber and the planting pillows. Future long-duration missions into the solar system, finally culminating on Mars, will require a fresh food supply to supplement crew diets, which means growing crops in space. Previous investigations focused on improving productivity in controlled environments, but the limited quarters of the space shuttle and International Space Station made it difficult to conduct large-scale crop production tests. Veg-03 expands on previous validation tests of the new Veggie hardware, which crew members will soon use to grow cabbage, lettuce and other fresh vegetables in space.

Combustion Integrated Rack (CIR) Manifold #2 & #4 Bottle and Advanced Combustion via Microgravity Experiments (ACME) Controller Replacements: To control the airflow over the flame, today the crew removed and replaced one ACME controller while the ACME chamber insert was fully installed inside of the CIR combustion chamber. After the ACME controller was replaced, the crew replaced the CIR manifold #2 and #4 bottles on the front of the optics bench. CIR provides sustained, systematic microgravity combustion research and it houses hardware capable of performing combustion experiments to further research of combustion in microgravity. This is for the ACME investigation, which is a set of five independent studies of gaseous flames to be conducted in the CIR. ACME’s primary goal is to improved fuel efficiency and reduced pollutant production in practical combustion on Earth. Its secondary goal is to improve spacecraft fire prevention through innovative research focused on materials flammability.

Microbial Tracking-2 (MT-2): Two crewmembers performed MT-2 sample collection activities. The 52S crewmember collected surface and air samples to characterize the different types of microbial locations on the ISS and the 53S crewmember collected saliva samples. The samples will be placed inside a Minus Eighty Degree Celsius Laboratory Freezer for ISS (MELFI) in support of the Microbial Tracking-2 investigation. MT-2 monitors the different types of microbes that are present on ISS over a 1-year period. After the samples are returned to Earth, a molecular analysis of the RNA and DNA will be conducted to identify the specific microbes that are present on ISS in order to understand the microbial flora diversity on the ISS and how it changes over time.

Earth Imagery from ISS Target (EIISS): Using the Nikon camera, the crew will capture images of Hawaii at night and using the RED camera, they will capture images of the Iberian Peninsula. EIISS is used to support creation of a series of videos showcasing Earth views taken from space. The videos are taken with cameras on the ISS in 6K hi-resolution and are integrated into videos for screensavers for public enjoyment, exploration, and engagement.

On Board Training (OBT), Emergency Simulation: Today the crew will review procedures and prepare for tomorrow’s OBT, in which they will rehearse their responses to onboard emergencies.

68 Progress (68P) Leak Check: Today ground controllers worked with the onboard crew to perform a leak check on 68P. The onboard crew isolated the vehicle by closing hatches and the ground teams performed the leak check. Progress leak checks were nominal and the hatches are now open with clamps installed.